2016 Guinea Pig Christmas Holiday Gift Guide

by Janice KarlovichNovember 21, 2016

If you are like most guinea pig owners, your piggies are an important part of your family. As such, you want to include them in your holiday gift giving. But it can be hard to find a unique gift you feel good about giving to your little fur babies. Brick and mortar pet stores often don’t give much shelf space to small pet products, and what they do have are often the same things they’ve had for years, many of which are repurposed cat, dog and bird items.

Your piggies deserve better than that! So where can you find something truly unique for those special guinea pigs on your list?

Try shopping online! In recent years, there has been a big increase in the number of products developed specifically for guinea pigs and other small pets. Many of these products are not yet in pet stores, but they are available online.

Here are a few unique items that our two guinea pigs, Ginger and Cocoa, truly love and recommend for the holidays:

Piggy Bedspreads: Piggy BedSpreads is the home of the first and only fitted, washable, fleece bedding for your guinea pigs’ cage. It is a three-ply liner with a waterproof bottom. Piggy BedSpreads are designed for use with C&C Cages, but they can be customized to fit almost any size cage. They also sell C&C cages on their website, as well as a full line of very high quality fleece snuggle cups, lap pads, and other unique cage accessories. Ginger and Cocoa absolutely love their Piggy BedSpreads, and the liners are a cinch to clean. Available here: http://piggybedspreads.com/

Snoozie’s Cozies: If you are in the UK, you won’t want to miss ordering some of the beautiful, handmade fleece cozies, hammocks, bedding and other cage accessories for your guinea pigs or other small pets. Nikki also offers a unique monthly subscription box for small pets, which includes surprise gifts each month. Available here: http://snooziescozies.co.uk/

STAYbowl™ Tip-Proof Bowl ($9.95): This patent-pending bowl has a platform base, which prevents guinea pigs from dumping and wasting their kibble. Because STAYbowl™ puts an end to spills and waste, the bowls will very quickly pay for themselves. Plus, because of their ergonomic design, they reduce food competition and bring peace to mealtime. The ¼-cup size is just right for one or two guinea pigs. A larger ¾-cup size will be available in early December. The larger size will work well for veggies, or for herds of three to six guinea pigs. (Please note that adult guinea pigs only need 1/8 cup of kibble per day.) Available here: https://www.mystaybowl.com/collections/guinea-pigs-and-small-animals/products/staybowl-tip-proof-bowl-for-guinea-pigs-and-small-pets

Heather’s Piggy Fleece: Heather makes very high quality and reasonably priced fleece items for guinea pigs and other small pet. She offers a wide range of bright and colorful fleece cage liners, fleece tunnels, pillows, lap pads and more. Ginger and Cocoa enjoy lounging on their tie-dye pillow bed from Heather’s Piggy Fleece that they never want to move off of it! Available here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/heatherspiggyfleece

Oxbow Simple Rewards Lavender-Chamomile Medley ($3.99): These bite-sized treats contain no added sugar or fruit and are a great way to add variety to your pets’ diet. We especially like the Lavender-Chamomile because there are no dried fruits added. Plus, the smell of the dried chamomile and lavender is simply heavenly! Our Ginger and Cocoa come running whenever we shake the bag of these treats. We save them for an occasional reward and only give them a teaspoon each as a kibble topper, or as a forage for their cuddle cups. Available here: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=6067+10376+20256&pcatid=20256

Willow Gardens Pretzel Sticks ($1.59): These 100 percent willow chew sticks are all natural and offer a great way to satisfy your guinea pigs’ chewing instincts and to keep their teeth worn down. They make great stocking stuffers, and you can’t beat the price! Our Ginger and Cocoa aren’t big chewers, and ignored all of the other chew toys we have bought them over the years. But they really do love these willow sticks! They grind them up within a few minutes of finding them in their cage. We hide them in different places in their cage to keep them on their toes. Available here: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=6067+20836+20841+23175&pcatid=23175